Tunnel alteration has residents fuming

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The Lane Cove tunnel will pump more polluted air to one of its ventilation stacks after approval was granted to extend the roadway.

The Roads and Traffic Authority confirmed it has approved extension of the 3.6-kilometre tunnel by 145 metres. It has also axed a 1.6-kilometre section of a special ventilation tunnel, which would have run under the roadway and carried car emissions to a stack at the eastern end of the tunnel during peak hours.

The emissions from 100,000 cars a day will be sent through two stacks, one at the western end in the Lane Cove West Industrial Park in Sirius Road, and one at the eastern end in the Artarmon industrial area.

The RTA added the traffic-free shaft to the design of the tunnel to help move the polluted air to the stacks when traffic is particularly heavy. In normal conditions, it will be pumped through the traffic tunnel itself.

However, reducing the length of the ventilation shaft means that, when congested, almost all the air from the tunnel will flow out of the western stack, according to the Mayor of Lane Cove, Ian Longbottom.

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Cr Longbottom said the RTA did not consult the community or the council about the changes, but an RTA spokeswoman said newsletters were sent to 60,000 residents in March and the changes were advertised.

The spokeswoman said the minor changes to the tunnel would reduce noise during construction and operation of the tunnel, and would improve urban design at the eastern end.

She said the grade of the road would also be reduced, lowering the amount of vehicle emissions.

Cr Longbottom said the changes to the Lane Cove tunnel's ventilation design could not be described as minor.

"These changes are major and will result in an increase in polluted exhaust emissions blowing out the western stack, making them major changes for residents who live around that stack, " Cr Longbottom said.

Cr Longbottom said the 145-metre extension would provide an improved road network but create more pollution.

"We want to know exactly why the RTA provided a revised tunnel ventilation design to get the tunnel approved and then proceeded to negotiate a different design with major impacts on our residents without any planning assessment whatsoever," he said.

The emissions that would be concentrated around the western stack posed serious health risks for residents, according to the chairman of the Lane Cove Tunnel Action Group, Ray Kearney. "This air stream that they will be pumping out is extremely toxic," Dr Kearney said.

The changes to the ventilation of the tunnel, which will link the Gore Hill Freeway with the M2, has heightened calls from the council and residents' groups for the State Government to install in-tunnel air filtration.

In March, the Minister for Roads, Carl Scully, said he would trial air-filtration technology in one of Sydney's tunnels. This came after intense public pressure and a trip to Japan to inspect its extensive tunnel network.

Mr Scully had previously said the technology was not yet advanced enough to be worth the expenditure.

Exhaust stacks have been among the most controversial elements of road tunnels in Sydney, including the battle over the Government's refusal to install filtration systems in the M5 East tunnel.